All around there was heat. Motes of light all over giving off reds, oranges, yellows, ruddy browns indicating different temperatures. Sorin could see the bodies of those around him, but he needed more. He needed to find a way to gain an edge over those around him and he had two major theories that he needed to test and work toward. Aether is the mysterious fifth element of alchemy in his world's history, but if he was right, it was no different than what he had been taught was just energy. Sorin began to look closer at the individual motes and saw how they interacted with one another. The brighter the mote the further it liked to be from other motes and the colder the closer, which makes sense when it comes to molecules that have been heated. Which is more evidence that what they called fire essence or aether is, in fact energy.
He could move this fire aether around him and gather it, but it was not fire. It was just the heat energy. Heat is the vibration of molecules and the distancing from others, but what caused actual fire or what he knew to be the ignition point when fire was produced, but what is heat? Sorin looked closely at the molecules in his sense and saw there were streams of energy coming off the hotter molecules much more than the cooler ones he began to try to manipulate that energy and saw that it reacted to his desire. He began to pull it closer to him and started to slightly compress it into a ball.
As he pressed, he saw that the energy resisted him and did not want to be kept close to the rest of that energy and began to heat up even more, but Sorin kept squeezing.
Flash!
In his sense there was a brilliant flash and Sorin could feel the heat radiating off the orb in front of him. It let of waves of heat and began to shrink becoming smaller and smaller until it went back to the disorganized essence of heat.
*beep*
Sorin opened his eyes and not only saw the notification in the corner of his vision but the stares of a few of the people around him.
He ignored their looks and immediately opened the notification.
Congratulations
You have learned the skills:
Ignition - You can create fire from the aether around you. Intensity of the flames depends on environmental factors, will power, and aether control.
Skill upgrade:
Minor fire manipulation has become Fire manipulation
You may now manipulate the fire aether around you at less cost to you and with greater dexterity.
Skill upgrade:
Minor fire sense has become Fire sense
You may now sense heat aether more clearly with the ability to look closer or further at a target depending on aether expenditure. Adjusting the view of your Fire sense shifts skill from passive (p) to active (a)
Sorin was extremely pleased with the results so far and settled in again.
Sorin closed his eyes and opened up his sense and looked inward this time for phase two of his early plan. He had read many cultivation books and knew they could pull "mana" in those books into their core and do some sort of refinement, but Sorin had almost with complete surety that he was dealing with energy, and all was energy. Why couldn't he draw that energy in to increase his own stores and recharge himself?
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
He saw the streams of aether leaving his core around his navel and going to the different points of his skin in a slow steady motion. He reached out and began to manipulate the aether around him and noticed a sort of grab or attachment to the ambient aether. He was grabbing small amounts at a time so using his internal aether as sort of tentacles was not going to be an efficient method. Sorin stopped and thought for a while on how to gather more aether or event do it continuously. He thought of a scoop, or paddles, or even a bucket but none of those would work. Then it clicked. what about a whirlpool?
Sorin began letting his aether out and pushed it to begin swirling slowly at first but faster and faster in a single point and it started doing two things. first it began to heat the area around that aether "port?" then it began moving it to the entrance of said port and then Sorin began to pull all of that aether in as quickly as he could he found that getting the motion started worked with the laws of motion and the aether began to flow quickly through that channel and began to push into him. It warmed the channel he was using then it hit is core. It began to fill more and more. Sorin kept that motion going and began creating more vortexes at the other channel ports as he began to call them and the speed in which the aether rushed into him got faster and faster. He noticed his core was filling quickly at the same time.
It was at this moment someone shook him.
"Sorin!"
Ardwyn shook him violently. "You need to stop whatever it is you are doing. You are creating a wind around you and dropping the temperature of the room."
Sorin began looking around and opened his sense and saw the direct area around him had the air cooled to a teal blue and all the people around him had moved away staring at him uneasily. It was at this time Sorin noticed a notification that he had not even noticed.
Congratulations
You have learned the skill:
Absorption - using your connection to the world you have discovered a way to draw in ambient aether. Normally you have to rely eating in order to replenish your internal aether reserves but no longer.
Sorin smiled to himself. This was step one complete for what he was trying to do. He pulled up his full HUD.
Name: Sorin Ekart
Path: Pyromancer
AP: 390/400
Body: 7/10 (T1)
Mind: 10/10 (T1)
Spirit: 20/50 (T2)
Abilities:
1. Fire sense (p)/(a) - sense heat aether more clearly around you with the ability to look closer or further at a target depending on aether expenditure. Adjusting the view of your Fire sense shifts skill from passive (p) to active (a).
2. Fire manipulation (a) - You can manipulate fire aether in your immediate vicinity. May cause minor interference with another's NAF. (Natural Aether Field)
3. Ignition - You can create fire from the aether around you. Intensity of the flames depends on environmental factors, will power, and aether control.
4. Absorption - using your connection to the world you have discovered a way to draw in ambient aether. Normally you have to rely eating in order to replenish your internal aether reserves but no longer.
Sorin was surprised by a few changes as he hadn't look at his HUD for a while.
His body had improved probably because of the physical training he had been doing and in spite of all the experimentation he had done, his AP was nearly full which he contributed to absorption. He closed his HUD and began to look around. As it turned out, others had begun to follow his example and work on themselves.
"Its survival of the fittest." Ardwyn said noticing Sorin's attention. "They all saw you working on your path, and it made them nervous enough that after they were done healing many started doing the same. In your effort to give yourself an edge, you might increase your level of competition. Even Chorus is working on herself. She wasn't happy to see you make what appeared to be leaps and the fact you summoned flames."
Sorin gave a single chuckle to himself.
"I'm only getting started."
Sorin with a very mischievous grin.